Page 27

“You know.” She waves a hand in the air, then throws up her hands in exasperation. “Ugh! Have relations.”

Have relations?I don’t know why Olivia’s so outraged by the notion. It’s like she’s regressed to the Victorian era.

“I intend to fuck my wife,” I tell her bluntly. “Does that offend you?”

“Of course it does. The idea of you jumping on me the minute we’re alone is pretty offensive. I might as well be one of those sex dolls.”

“You think I want to fuck an inanimate object?” I throw back my head and laugh at the absurdity of her remark.

“An inanimate object would probably suit you better. It wouldn’t bother you with thoughts and opinions.”

“Oh, no, my dear sweet wife, I want you, a flesh and blood woman, not some toy.” I give her a moment to digest that. “And I’m not going to jump on you. I’m going to possess every inch of your body so thoroughly you’ll never be free of me.”

Olivia makes a strangled sound that could be shock, dread, desire, or a combination of all three.

“But first we’re going to play a game.” My hands go to the buckle of my belt.

Olivia’s face blanches. “What sort of game?”

“One where I ask you questions and then punish you for each lie that spills from your beautiful lips.”

My wife’s eyes widen. “Punish me how?”

Rather than answering, I slowly unfasten my belt and slide it through the loops on my pants. Doubling it over, I snap the two halves together. The crack makes Olivia jump.

“Piotr?” She backs away, but there’s not much room in here and she soon comes up against the wall. “What are you doing?”

“First, I’m going to spank you with my hand for the lies you’ve already told. Then I’m going to ask you some questions and use this belt on your ass every time you lie to me again.” I crook my finger, beckoning her closer. “Now come here. I want you out of that dress.”

Olivia doesn’t move. She wrings her hands together and swallows so hard I hear the gulp from across the room.

“Come here, Olivia.”

She shakes her head. “I can’t do this.”

“Of course you can,malyskha.” I hold my hand out to her. “What happened to the woman who’s stood up to me all this time? What happened to feisty Olivia, who made me wait for her and refused to promise to obey me? Was she another lie?”

Olivia closes her eyes. She hunches over her shoulders, and an air of defeat surrounds her. I hate to see her like this, but she soon composes herself. She breathes in deeply and then looks up at me with enough fury in her eyes to make a weaker man piss himself. That’s the woman I want.

“Let’s get this over with.” She marches toward me and spins around to offer me her back. “You’ll need to help me out of the dress.”

“With pleasure,malyskha.”

The delicate fabric of her gown is held together by a hundred tiny pearl buttons. My fingers are too big for the task of unfastening them. I only open two of them before I realize this will drive me insane. Taking the knife from my pocket, I flick it open. Olivia turns to me with startled eyes.

“Don’t look so frightened,malyskha. I’m going to cut the dress, not you.”

“I like this dress,” she protests.

“So do I.” The gown is stunning on her, the soft white beautiful against her lightly tanned skin. “But it’s in my way.”

“And you destroy anything that gets in your way?”

“Hmm, you know me well.”

Olivia huffs. “I don’t know you at all.”

“You’ll know me a lot better by the time we’re done here.”